Wacom adds multitouch to its tablets

Wacom's pressure-sensitive tablets have already been pretty great at what they do, but they've added a simple and appreciated wrinkle for Windows 7 and Mac OSX multitouch addicts: their new pads now double as giant multitouch pads, too.

Available in a range of sizes and functions, Wacom's Bamboo lineup has pads that are touch-only, as well as touch/pen combo pads. In our opinion, the combo is really the only way to go--Wacom's wireless pressure-sensitive pen is worth the tiny bit of extra investment, and is nearly good enough to drive would-be artists right over the edge into art dabbling themselves.

The larger Bamboo Fun ($199)
Wacom

$69 will get you either a small black Touch pad or a small black Pen pad, but the Pen & Touch combo costs $99. A silver-colored Bamboo Craft edition comes with extra software bundles for crafting and scrapbooking. Meanwhile, at the top end of the line, the $199 Bamboo Fun is larger and has more room for its pen/touch interface. The silver Bamboo editions include Corel Essentials 4 as well as Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 WE3 and Photoshop Elements 7, while the lower-cost pads include various combinations of one or two of these programs.